Card-holder.



' No. 818,090. PATENTED APR.-1'7, 1906.

D. E. HUNTER.

CARD HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MARJO, 1904.

I metal shaped to present a series of rirrn STATES ion.

DAVID E. HUNTER, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSlGNOR TO LIBRARYBUREAU, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CARD-"HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed March 10, 1904,Serial No. 197,545.

Patented a riii'z', 1906.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DAVID E. HUNTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in CardHolders, of which thefollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, isa specification, like letters on the drawings reresenting like parts.

This invention has or its object the production of a novel card-holderof great simplicity.

The card-holder to be described has a cardretaining rod provided with anannular shoulder preferably projecting beyond the larger diameterthereof, and between said projection and the headed end of said rod andsustained by the end of the case or box is a rod-holder presentingyielding portions that coact with the shoulder of the retainingrod tomaintain the latter in its operative or pushed-in position for holdingthe cards. The rod-holder is shown as composed of sheet and the end ofthe portion of the sheet-metal blank having theprongs is so shaped as toengage the case or box and be restrained from rotation. The eyelet orfunnel into which the point of the retainer-enters when in its operativeposition is sustained at the rear end of the case or box by the u turnedend of a metallic bar sustained at t e front end of the case or box,said bar serving also as a guide for the slotted heel of the follower.

The heel has 'a hole through which the cardretainer is extended, and aspring connected with said heel and resting at its free end against saidbar acts normally to tip the follower backwardly and cause its heel tobend on the bar and retain the follower locked in position.

Figure 1 in longitudinal section illustrates my invention in one of thebest forms now known to me, the card-retaining rod being in itsoperative position. Fig. 2 in. full lines shows part of the card-holderwith. the retaining-rod started outwardly, the dotted lines showing theretaining-rod in its inoperative position. Fig. 3 is a section on theline 3 3, Fig. 2, looking toward the right. Fig. 4 is a detail showingthe follower unlocks and ready to be slid on the retaining-rod. Fig. 5

is an isometrical-perspective showing part of prongs,

the follower with its heel, spring, and the follower guide-bar andcard-retaining rod. Fig. 6 is a detail showing the sheet-metal blankfrom which the rod-holder is formed, and Fig. 7 shows a modification ofmy invention.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the case or exterior part of thecard-holder, it comprising two side walls, a front end A, a rear end Aand bottom pieces A there being a slot between the inner edges of thebottom pieces, as best represented in Fig. 3.

The front wall is provided with an opening a, through which is extendeda yielding rodholder B, comprising,

series of yielding fingers b, inturned near 7 their extremities.

The rod-holder shown is supposed to be made from sheet-steel cut to forma blank, as represented in Fig. 6, the end thereof from which thefingers project being bent, as represented in Fig. 3, the corners 2being adap ed to engage suitable notches or grooves, it may be in thewood or other material forming the front end of the card-holder. Two ofthe sheet-metal corners of the holder shaped as shown abut one againstthe other, as at 3,

Fig. 3'.

The rod-holder may have one or a plurality of yielding fingers, andinstead' of bending the outer end of the rod-holder to represent aparallelogram in shape, as in Fig. 3, it might be triangular in shape,in which case there would be three fingers rather than four. It will beunderstood that my invention is not limited to any particular number offingers or to the exact shape shown.

The card-retaining rod C shoulder 0, re resented in Figs. 1 and 2 ashaving conica sides 0, and the outer end of the rod just within its headC is extended through a guide-plate C, which may be secured to the frontend of the card-holder by screws. (Not shown.)

has an annular The rear wall A of the card-holder is shown f thatnormally rests at its free the bushing 02 is inserted through the holein the upturned end e of the guide-bar 6 said bushing is expanded afterthe manner of expanding eyelets or is turned outwardly, as shown, sothat the upturned end of the guidebar is sustained by the bushingoutside the inner wall of the drawer.

The inner end of the bushing is flared, so that the card-retaining rodmay be readily entered therein when the rod is moved to the left, Fig.1, into its operative position, at which time the shoulder 0 will passthe yielding-end or ends of the rod-holder and snap gehind saidprojection, as represented, in

It will be noticed that the shoulder is beveled at its opposite sidestoward the body of the rod, and as the rod is pulled outwardly inastraight line to the right, Fig. 1, the inclined side of the shouldernearest the head G acts on an inturned curved part of each yieldingfinger and forces the same outwardly, as represented by full lines inFig. 2, and thereafter the'movement of the rod may be continued and therod be withdrawn from the box or case. a

The shoulder shown in Figs. 1 and 2 projects from the surface of therod; but my invention would not be departed from if the shouldersoccupied a position within the diameter of the rod, as represented inFig. 7, in which event the yielding fingers might be shaped asrepresented in said figure and snap into the annular space it betweenthe inclined shoulders 5 and 6. In either case it will be noticed thatthe card-receiving rod may be pulled out or pushed in without rotatingthe same, and the yielding fingers will snap readily into engagementwith the shoulder however formed whenever the shoulder comes in theproper operative relation to the inturned portionspf the fingers.

Prior to my invention I am not aware that a card-receiving rod has everhad coacting with it a yielding finger that would snap into engagementwith a shoulder by simply a direct straight movement of the rod andretain the rod-in its operative position.

The follower F' comprises usually a board having attached thereto byscrewsdf a heel f said heel having, as shown, a ro -receiving hole f 2and a slotf through which is extended the follower guide-bar, a portionof the heel between said rod and guide-bar having applied thereto in aslat therein a spring-foot end against the follower guide-bar.

The follower normally stands in the position shown in Fig. 1, the springf at such time acting to tip the upper edge of the follower over to theleft and causing the edges of slot f 3 to engage the upper and lowersides of the follower guide-bar, thus locking the follower to theguide-bar, so that it cannot be moved by pressure directly against thatside of the guide-bar against which the cards contained in thecard-holder and surrounding the receiving-rod contact.

To slide the follower on the guide-bar and longitudinally of thereceiving-rod, the latter being in its operative position, so that thefollower may sustain properly the rearmost cards applied to thecard-holder, it is only necessary to take hold of the follower and tipit slightly, as represented in Fig. 4, and slide the follower to theright, the releasing of the follower immediately causing the spring toturn the follower into its normal position in which it is looked, asdescribed, on the follower guide-bar.

When the cards are to be applied to the receiving-rod, the latter ispulled outwardly or to the right far enough to expose the inner end ofthe receiving-rod, so that the usual hole in the card may he slippedthereonto. Thereafter the receiving-rod will be pushed to the left untilits end enters the bushing and the follower will be moved to the rightto sustain the rearmost cards in the desired position.

The box or case of the card -holder has within its front wall aninclined abutment E of usual construction.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, isv 1. In a card-holder, a drawer, a card-holding rodremovably mounted in said drawer, automatically-operated means forlocking the said rod in operative position, aguid e-bar, a spring lockedfollower slidably mounted upon said guide-bar, said guide-bar having oneof its ends attached to the front of the drawer and its opposite endupturned to form a seat for a bushing, and a bushing adapted to receivethe end of the aforementioned card-holding rod when the same is inoperative position.

2. In a card-holder, a drawer, a card-holding rod removably mounted insaid drawer, automatically-operated means for locking said rod inoperative position, a guide-bar, a spring-locked follower slidablymounted on said guide-bar; said guide-bar having one of its endsattached to the front of the aforementioned drawer and its opposite endbeing upturned, and a bushing mounted in said upturned portion, andextending through an opening in the rear wall in the aforesaid drawerand adapted to receive the end of the aforesaid card-holding rod.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

DAVID E. HUNTER.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. GREGORY, MARGARET A. .DUNN.

